The 32-year-old Ambrose, who played Claire on HBO's Six Feet Under and now appears in Torchwood: Miracle Day, made her Broadway debut in 2006's Awake and Sing! She's also appeared in Exit the King and Shakespeare in the Park's Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

Bartlett Sher, a Tony winner who's directing the revival, told Playbill: "It's important that people not see this casting process as trying to find the next Barbra Streisand. She is one of a kind. ... Lauren Ambrose has enormous accomplishments as an actor, especially a truthfulness in her acting that leads to great comedy, as well as a wonderful, rich voice that is fully trained and can genuinely soar."

Funny Girl follows the life and career of Broadway and film star Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur-gambler Nicky Arnstein. The Funny Girl revival will open with a short run in Los Angeles from Jan. 15 to Feb. 26, then move to New York City in the spring.